The most unique animal that lives underground

The naked mole mole (Latin Heterocephalus glaber) is a small burrowing rodent of the digger family. The species is unique for mammals features: complex social organization of the colony, cold-bloodedness, immunity to cancer in general, insensitivity to certain forms of pain (thermal burns and chemical burns with acids), endurance to high concentrations of CO2. It is the longest living rodent (up to 28 years).



Small rodents with a body length of 8-10 cm, tail - 3-4 cm and weighing 30-35 g. Females are larger: weigh between 50 and 80 g. The appearance indicates an adaptation to the underground way of life. It's heavy. The head is relatively large, on a shortened neck. Eyes are tiny - 0.5 mm, vision is weak. The outer ears are reduced, but the hearing is sharp, as evidenced by the extensive repertoire of sounds emitted by mole rats. They have a sharp sense of smell and touch; their faces and tails are covered with sensitive vibrissae, in particular, allowing mole rats to easily move through the tunnels both forward head and forward tail.

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Hair cover is almost absent. Thick hairs grow only between the toes of the paws, increasing their surface, which helps the animals dig. The limbs are short and thin. Large protruding teeth behind are isolated by the growths of the lips, so that the ground does not enter the oral cavity during digging. About 25% of all muscle mass falls on the muscles of the jaws (in humans, this share falls on the muscles of the legs). The skin is bare and wrinkled, pink or yellowish.

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